*by Stephenie Meyer*



TWILIGHT - chapter 19 - GOODBYES


I was staring back at Alice's headlights when the truck shuddered and a dark shadow sprung up outside the window.
16 My bloodcurdling scream lasted a fraction of a seconde before Edward's hand clamped down on my mouth.
"It's Emmett!"
He released my mouth, and wound his arm around my waist.
"It's okay, Bella," he promised. "You're going to be safe."
We raced through the quiet town toward the north highway.
"I didn't realize u were still so bored with small-town life," he zei conversationally, and I knew he was trying to distract me. "It seemed like u were adjusting fairly well - especially recently. Maybe I was just fattering myself that I was making life meer interesting for you."
"I wasn't being nice," I confessed, ignoring his attempt at diversion, looking down at my knees. "That was the same thing my mom zei when she left him. u could say I was hitting below the belt."
"Don't worry. He'll forgive you." He smiled a little, though it didn't touch his eyes.
I stared at him desperately, and he saw the naked panic in my eyes.
"Bella, it's going to be all right."
"But it won't be all right when I'm not with you," I whispered.
"We'll be together again in a few a days," he said, tightening his arm around me. "Don't forget that this was your idea."
"It was the best idea - of course it was mine."
His answering smile was bleak and disappeared immediately.
"Why did this happen?" I asked, my voice catching. "Why me?"
He stared blackly at the road ahead. "It was my fault - I was a fool to expose u like that." The rage in his voice was directed internally.
"That's not what I meant," I insisted. "I was there, big deal. It didn't bother the other two. Why did this James decide to kill me? There're are people all over the place, why me?"
He hesitated, thinking before he answered.
"I got a good look at his mind tonight," he began in a low voice. "I'm not sure if there's anything I could have done to avoid this, once he saw you. It is partially your fault." His voice was wry. "If u didn't smell so appallingly luscious, he might not have bothered. But when I defended you... well, that made it a lot worse. He's not used to being thwarted, no matter how insignificant the object. He thinks of himself as a hunter and nothing else. His existence is consumed with tracking, and a challenge is all he asks of life. Suddenly we've presented him with a beautiful challenge - a large clan of strong fighters all bent of protecting the one vulnerable element. u wouldn't believe how euphoric he is now. It's his favoriete game, and we've just made it his most exciting game ever." His tone was full of disgust.
He paused a moment.
"But if I had stood by, he would have killed u right then," he zei with hopeless frustration.
"I thought... I didn't smell the same to the others... as I do to you," I zei hesitantly.
"You don't. But that doesn't mean that u aren't still a temptation to every one of them. If u had appealed to the tracker - of any of them - the same way u appeal to me, it would have been a fight right there."
I shuddered.
"I don't think I have any choice but to kill him now," he muttered. "Carlisle won't like it."
I could hear the tires kruis the bridge, though I couldn't see the river in the dark. I knew we were getting close. I had to ask him now.
"How can u kill a vampire?"
He glanced at me with unreadable eyes and his voice was suddenly harsh. "The only way to be sure is to tear him to shreds, and then burn the pieces."
"And the other two will fight with him?"
"The woman will. I'm not sure about Laurent. They don't have a very strong bond - he's only with them for convenience. He was embarrassed door James in the meadow...."
"But James and the woman - they'll try to kill you?" I asked, my voice raw.
"Bella, don't u dare waste time worrying about me. Your only concern is keeping yourself veilig and - please, please - trying not to be reckless."
"Is he still following?"
"Yes. He won't attack the house, though. Not tonight."
He turned off onto the invisible drive, with Alice following behind.
We drove right up to the house. The lights inside were bright, but they did little to alleviate the blackness of the encroaching forest. Emmett had my door open before the truck was stopped; he pulled me out of the seat, tucked me like a football into his vast chest, and ran me through the door.
We burst into the large white room, Edward and Alice at our sides. All of them were there; they were already on their feet at the sound of our approach. Laurent stood in their midst. I could hear low growls rumble deep in Emmett's throat as he set me down volgende to Edward.
"He's tracking us," Edward announced, glaring balefully at Laurent.
Laurent's face was unhappy. "I was afraid of that."
Alice danced to Jasper's side and whispered in his ear; her lips quivered with the speed of her silent speech. They flew up the stairs together. Rosalie watched them, and then moved quickly to Emmett's side. Her beautiful eyes were intense and - when they flickered unwillingly to my face - furious.
"What will he do?" Carlisle asked Laurent in chilling tones.
"I'm sorry," he answered. "I was afraid, when your boy there defended her, that it would set him off."
"Can u stop him?"
Laurent shook his head. "Nothing stops James when he gets started."
"We'll stop him," Emmett promised. There was no doubt what he meant.
"You can't bring him down. I've never seen anything like him in my three hundred years. He's absolutely lethal. That's why I joined his coven."
His coven, I thought, of course. The toon of leadership in the clearing was merely that, a show.
Laurent was shaking his head. He glanced at me, perplexed, and back to Carlisle. "Are u sure it's worth it?"
Edward's enraged roar filled the room; Laurent cringed back.
Carlisle looked gravely at Laurent. "I'm afraid you're going to have to make a choice."
Laurent understood. He deliberated for a moment. His eyes took in every face, and finally swept the bright room.
"I'm intrigued door the life you've created here. But I won't get in the middle of this. I beer none of u any enmity, but I won't go up against James. I think I will head north - to that clan in Denali." He hesitated. "Don't underestimate James. He's got a brilliant mind and unparalleled senses. He's every bit as comfortable in the human world as u seem to be, and he won't come at u head on.... I'm sorry for what's been unleashed here. Truly sorry." He bowed his head, but I saw him flicker another puzzled look at me.
"Go in peace," was Carlisle's formal answer.